Feed-bag.



D. D. MOKBRNAN.

` FEED BAG. APPLICATION FILED MAR. 5, 1906.

lN0- 830,734. PATENTED SEPT. 1.1, 1906.

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"quently prevents it from getting a full feed hausted and yet remain in its lowered posi# oFFioE.

DENNIS D. MGKERNAN, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS.

FEED-BAG.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented Sept. 1 1, 1906'.

Application filed March 5i, 1906. YSerial No. 304,205.

To @ZZ whom it may concern.-

Beit known that I, DENNIS D. MCKERNAN, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Chicago7 in the county of Cook and Statel of Illinois, have invented certain new and. useful Improvements in Feed-Bags, of which the following is a full, clear, and-exact speciiication. I l This invention relates to feed-bags espe# cially designed for the feeding of animals, which ordinarily consist of a tubular-like bag of canvas or other fiexible material provided, with a stiifened bottom and having a strap by;` which it is suspended-from the neck of the animal in its operative position over the mouth of the animal and owing to which they are usually provided with perforations in the side at one or more points for ventilat-l ing purposes. In these prior structures there is'also a fixed distance between the mouth of the animal and the bottom of thebag, and the result is that as theV animal con-i sumes its feed and its depth is thereby less-f ened some of the feed remains unconsumed, because and only because the animal cannotf reach it except by. lowering its head until it can find some support for the bottom of thei bag, when by further lowering its head iti' can reach' the feed resting on the bottom, which is not only objectionable because the` animal before resorting to the above procej, dure will first toss its head and with it the bag,i throwing some of the feed out of the bag, but' frequently the only support it can find for thel bag is in the Vmud and frequently water., Again, this inaccessibility of the animal to its food does not improve its dispositionand freand that which it should have before it isi obliged to again go to work, it being under-i stood that these feed-bags are employed at,y midday, when the animals are at work andy away from their stables and other places' where feed-troughs are not accessible.

The object ofv my invention is a feed-bag,` which shall automatically operate to bottomly raise the bottom of thebag toward the mouth of the animal as the feed becomes ex-i tion until a substantial portion of the feed therein is consumed, whereby the feed at the same time will not be unduly pressed against the mouth of the animal.

tained, all as fully described with reference to the accompanying drawings, and more particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the said drawings, Figure l illustrates a erspective view of a feed-bag, showing the liottom of the bag in the elevated positions it assumes as the food in the bag is consumed and when otherwise it will be beyond the reach of the animal. Fig. 2 is a transverse section on the line 2 2 of Fig. 1 5 Fig. 8, a detailed enlarged vertical section on the line 3 3 of Fig. 2, and Fig. 4 a perspective view of the casing for the spring.

Similar numerals of reference indicate the same parts in the several figures of the drawin s.

glhe numeral 5 indicates the body of a feedbag which is tubular in form and composed of canvas or other flexible fabricand provided with a stiifened bottom 6, which may be of leather, wood, or metal, and secured to the body 5. of the bag by means of rivets 7 l(see Fig. 3) or other fastening devices, the

said bag being provided at one side with ventilating-openings 8, which may be in the bag and stiHened against collapsing by having them in a piece of leather 9 or other stiffened material secured to the bag.

Secured to opposite sides-of the bag at its upper end is a neck-strap 10, whichv is ordinarily riveted to the bag toward its upper end edges, as indicated at 11, and is of such a length that when the bag is filled with feed and the neck-strap 10 is passed over the head or neck of the animal his mouth` will be in convenient position to dispose of substantially the upper portion of such feed, and in this connection it is proper to add that such straps 10 are sometimes composed of two pieces, the opposing ends of which are respectively provided with buckles and holes by which the length of the strap may be adjusted to the mouth of the animal to be fed by shortening and lengthening the strap.

At one side of the bagand preferably in line with the strap l0 is an adjusting-strap 12, which may be a continuation of the strap 10,` but for the purposes of feed-bags which IOO ' coiled spring 18, to the upper end of which is secured the lower end of an opposing adjustlng-strap 19, holding a' buckle 20, adapted to be secured to the strap 12 by passing its tongue 21 to any one of the perforations 14 therein and to thereby adjust the tension of the spring 18 for the purposes hereinafter 'described.

In order to protect the spring 18 from injury and at the same time provide against dirt accumulating therein, it is inclosed by a casing 22, tubular in form, and provided with lateral anges 23 23, perforated as indicated at 24, as a means for securing the casing to the body of the bag by means of rivets or stitches, as may be, the casing preferably being of metal, but may beof any other substantial non-flexible material or which is sufficiently so to prevent its collapsing and binding upon the spring when pressed against or saving a blow, the casing being open at'both ends 1n order that dirt or feed striking the spring may not lodge therein, but freely discharge at the lower end of the casing.

In operation and in order to adjust the tension of the spring so as to lift the bottom of the bag and with it the feed, which would otherwise be beyond the reach of the animal7 the bag it first filled or partly so with the feed and then suspended from the animals neck or head in such a manner as to have the feed in the'bag conveniently close to the animals mouth. The adjusting-straps 12 and 15 lare then adjusted in such a manner as to put upon the spring the entire weight of the feed as well as the weight of the greater portion of the material of the bag, the result of which is that the springs are distended a certain distance or number of inches from their normal condition, and as the flexibility of the spring is such that a certain weight will extend them a certain distance it will be seen that if lsuch weight diminishes, as in the matter of feed being consumed, such consumption creates a gradual contraction of the spring, thereby keeping the feed in the bag at about the same relative position to the animals mouth until consumed as it was when the bag was first adjusted. So long as the feed is of the same character, or, more accurately speaking, of the same weight and quantityjthis same adjustment may be maintained until a inmediately bep said elastic device,

scribed.

change in the'gravity or quantity of the feed supplied in the bag; any substantial variation in either then a new adjustment ofthe tension of the spring should be made in order to best adapt it for convenient access for the animal.

When a feed-bag such as I have described is supplied with feed at any height therein or of any specific gravity and the tension of the spring has been adjusted as described, it will be found that after the animal has consumed the feed ordinarily within its reach the spring by its tension will then commence to lift the body of the bag toward the mouth of the animal and continue this lifting so as to maintain the last of the feed in convenient reach of the animal, but with a force decreasing as the weight of the feed is reduced by the consumption of tire animal, so that at no time 'is either the feed or the bottom of the bag' pressedy against the mouth of the animal to his discomfort either in feeding or afterward before the bag is removed'.

By my invention is not only avoided that heretofore objectionable feature of the animal tossing the bag around and spilling the feed in efforts to eat the latter part of it by setting and pushing it down into mud and water, but means are provided automatically lifting the bag, so that all of the feed therein is in convenient reach of the animal and may be exhausted therefrom by the animal without any undue eort.

Having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. The combination with a feed-bag, of an elastic device connected at one end with the lower portion or bottom of the bag and at its upper end to the body of the bag above its bottom, of means for adjusting the tension of substantially as de- 2. The combination with a feed-bag of an elastic device secured at one end to or near the bottom of the bag, of a strap the upper vend of which is secured toward the top of the justing device connecting the` bag, and an ad lower portion of said strap to the upper end but whenever there is of said elastic device, substantially 'as dvescribed.

3. A feed-bag comprising in combination therewith of a strap secured to the bottom thereof, a coiled spring having its lower end secured to said strap, of another strapattached to the body of the bag toward its top, and an adjusting device connecting said upper strap with the sprincg whereby the tension of the spring is increase and diminished, substantially as described.

4. A feed-bag comprising in combination therewith a coiled spring secured at its lower end at or toward the bottom of said bag, a

Wlth perforations adapted to be engaged by strap and buckle secured to the upper end I d In Witness whereof I have hereunto set my thereof, and a perforated strap secured to hand this 1st dey of Merch, 1906. seid bag toward the top thereof and provided DENNIS D MOKERNAN.

In presence of E. K. MANCHESTER, JNO. G. ELLIOTT said buckle and thereby :adjust the tension of said spring, and a caslng lnclosing said spring, substantially as described. 

